Archive for March, 2011

Debt Doesn’t Age Well – From the Moneyfinders Blog on WordPress

Sunday, March 27th, 2011

Unlike a fine wine and “fort” cheddar, debt and time just don’t mix so well. No indeed, the more time applied to your debt the more that $5 credit card charge from 20 years ago really costs you.

I write this post because I’ve been seeing an alarming trend—alarming even to me. In the last 6 to 12 months the number of individuals or couples in their 60s approaching me about their debt is steadily increasing. While my experience is anecdotal, and I am of course not a research facility, at least last I checked, there is something going on here. For the last few years most of my clients were within 10 years of retirement. They were often carrying far more debt than they were due to get rid of in time if they kept on keeping on. Now I’m seeing more and more retirees or even those who are semi-retired coming to me with more and more debt.

Here are the insights I’ve gathered from working on these cases. Perhaps you can use them to be more aware of the needs that some of you retired clients may have:

In every case the clients had someone they considered to be their advisor with whom they had assets invested. They’d said nothing to the advisor thinking that the advisor couldn’t help them and fearing judgement.
In every case the clients went to their bank looking to find a solution only to be offered a line of credit and quoted the minimum payment for that new debt. Even when the client pushed the issue no remedy or suggestion as to how to pay off the debt by a certain time was offered.
In every case when the bank was approached about the debt issue the bank made overtures to move the assets from the advisor during the course of discussions.
In every case there were adult children involved who were to some degree being assisted by their parents. The clients would never have so much as hinted to these children anything was wrong. Most said they felt that if they’d done for one something under different circumstances then they should do for the others regardless of the harm it caused their finances now.
In every case the client had been very averse to paying out a mortgage penalty, no matter what.
In every case the client wanted to protect a psychological perception that if they didn’t put all the debt in one place the amount owning was somehow more bearable.
In every case the client came to me because they’d heard I could likely help and that while excuses and nonsense would not be tolerated when implanting the solution, judgement would not be passed on their former financial errors either.

Every single one of these people I’ve seen or worked with in the last year had one of you—an advisor. In every case the advisor could have lost them to their bank. In every case they didn’t feel confident enough to tell the advisor about their debt. In every case the advisor wasn’t putting debt on the table. How many clients could you lose if your clients don’t see you as part of the solution on such important financial matters?

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By Sue Ricketts

Wow! When I read this I had an AHA moment!. Have I been checking in with my clients and their debts? Do they think of me as a trusted advisor or do they just assume I have no relevant advice for them? Although I tell them that I can provide many types of services, they still may think the bank knows better and that someone like me is not a professional in that field.

I most certainly do have advice which will save them hundreds, maybe even thousands of dollars in interest paid out, never to come back. I work with the Net Worth statement to help folks have some real value. It’s not just “let’s salt some money into the RSP so that we can get a refund” which will pay for the latest gadget, gizmo, or southern vacation. It’s taking a good hard look at where the money is going.

Follow this example through:

Asset – Cottage $200,000

Debt – Mortgage due to cottage $175,000 4.5%

Debt – Credit Card balance $20,000 18.9%

Line of credit $30,000 Prime + 1% 4%

Sears card $5,000 28.9%

Total Assets $200,000

Total Debts $230,000

I see things like this often. I realize that mortgages compound semi-annually and other debts may be paid down for periods throughout the year, but let’s look at the interest payable - the real cost of that asset.

Mortgage $7,875

Credit Card $3,780

Line of Credit (unsecured interest only) $1,200

Sears Card $1,445

Total Annual Interest $14,300

That amount of money does not include paying back any principal. To my mind that amount of money would cover a couple of very nice vacations and pay down debt owed. Or provide extra income in the years when you live in retirement.

There is no penalty for past financial decisions, but there is most definitely a cost to keeping your debts in different places. A cost to bury your head in the sand. By not looking at all your debt frequently and admitting that you’re really in the red, you are making one of the cardinal bad money decisions. That’s one of the prime reasons for having a professional financial advisor, not Uncle Jack, help you make wiser decisions. Your personal business won’t be spread around anywhere and a person who will work for your best interests, not a particular bank or company’s interests, is one of the best tools you can keep in your financial control kit.

The first rule of becoming financially well off is:

Understand Your Cash Flow

Ignore it at your peril!

The Cloud Pavilion

Sunday, March 27th, 2011

By Laura Joh Rowland

The latest in the Sano Ichiro mystery series. A peaceful year has passed since the charged events of The Fire Kimono for the family. Although, his arch enemy, Yanigasawa, has returned and reclaimed his place as joint Chamberlain to the Shogun, there have been no tricks or schemes. The two fierce enemies have even managed to back one another up in times of need. Sano is still very suspicious and is on guard for when his enemy will strike again.

Although Sano now knows that he is part of the Kumasawa Clan, he has not found time to get acquainted with them, nor to find out why the long banishment of his Mother has not been lifted by them now that the Shogun has declared her a heroine of Japan. Until one morning when his uncle Major Kumasawa meets him on the practice battlegrounds there is no contact. The Major begs him to help him find his daughter who has disappeared without a trace.

When he saves his cousin Chiyo it is too late to prevent her from having been kidnapped and raped by someone in a mysterious cloud place. Shortly thereafter he finds that there are two other victims of the same type of crime. An aged nun and the twelve year old daughter of one of the city’s most notorious gangsters has also been kidnapped with the same results. Now Sano is on a personal quest to find who could have done such a terrible thing and to let justice prevail in Edo.

The search for his cousin has taken time away from him managing the affairs of state and when he is summoned urgently by the Shogun he can’t be found quickly enough. This earns the Shoguns reprimand because it appears that Sano’s not finding the perpetrators of the kidnapping has let them kidnap the Shogun’s own wife, Lady Nobuko. In a background of civil unrest and a never ending threat that the Shogun may execute Sano and his family, there is another mystery to be solved with a tight deadline.

During this investigation, Sano and Reiko discover that their son, Masahiro, has quite a talent for spying and investigating even though he is not yet a man. His surveillance proves very valuable in understanding the political situation and saves them all from being executed.

Throughout this series of historical novels set in Edo at the end of the 1600′s the characters have been well defined and more is learned about each of them with the telling of each tale. We follow Hirata on his quest of the martial arts mastery. His wife Midori through her lonely passages of time while Hirata is gone in pursuit of training. The other Detectives who work with Sano to help solve the many cases he has worked on. We learn more about Reiko and the children who are now becoming important characters to the books.

The Fire Kimono

Sunday, March 20th, 2011

By Laura Joh Rowland

On March 2, 1657, in the city of Edo, Japan (present day Tokyo) there was one of the worst fires in history. The fire began in the third year of the Meireki Imperial era. Sixty to seventy percent of the city was destroyed along with 100,000 lives lost. The fire burned for three days and the city was blanketed with smoke and flames whipped up by hurricane force winds which reached far into the sky. Leaping from building to building the flames formed canopies over the narrow streets and lanes which were packed with fleeing people and animals trying to escape the inferno.

Twenty one years beforehand the city had set up a fire brigade because of the risk of fire, but it was not experienced enough to handle the immense disaster which befell the city. Close packed buildings made of wood and paper along with narrow streets were a tinder just waiting for a match. This is true history and well documented.

The story begins forty-three years later when another storm with high winds knocks down a tree on the hills above the city. In a hole under the tree is a skeleton buried for many years. Intertwined with the bones are two samurai swords with intricate handles and etchings on the blades. The swords are identified as a set which belonged to fourteen year old Tokugawa Tadatoshi, a cousin of the present shogun who rules Japan. Tadatoshi disappeared at the time of the great fire. It was assumed he had died in the fire. However, this body was not burned. How did he come to be buried under a tree in an unmarked grave? Was he murdered? Did the ruling Tokugawa clan have an unknown enemy who might threaten them even now?

Chamberlain Sano Ichiro is called in to solve the mystery of this old murder and he turns up three suspects who might be involved. One is a man named Egen who was a monk charged with tutoring Tadatoshi. The second is Major Doi who was his personal bodyguard. The third person is none other than Sano’s mother. If his mother is proven guilty of murder, the whole family will have to pay by going with her to the execution ground to be beheaded. Sano, his wife Reiko and their two children Masahiro and Akiko are once again threatened with death. This time whether he can prove there is another murderer which no one knows about or his mother is guilty, his whole life may be forfeit.

Does he find a way? Will there be a way out of this unbelievable mess? Will Lord Matsudaira be able to turn this frightening state of affairs to his advantage? Does this have an echo of his old banished enemy Yaigasawa? Another exciting mystery in the ancient city of Edo.

Can leaders influence without authority? …Hardly.

Saturday, March 19th, 2011

I just read this quote: “The key to successful leadership today is influence, not authority.” WHAT? Eh, not quite.It’s sounds good when you first hear it, but it’s not only completely without merit, it’s also downright dangerous.

The quote should say, “One of the MANY keys to successful leadership today is influence.” It bugs me when someone attempts wisdom, and it flies in the face of logic, emotion, and especially reality.

If you think a leader can lead with no authority to lead, re-think that immediately. Imagine a person of great influence standing outside a major corporation, but not having a job at the company, let alone a position of authority. Would anyone take action? Would anyone follow that guy? Would anyone even listen?

The “influencer with no authority” would probably get his biggest chance telling it to the judge after being hauled off by security.

Same in government. Can you imagine a person of influence trying to lead, manage or vote on an issue with no authority? Not gonna EVER happen.

REALITY: There is no “key” to successful leadership. Short quotes like that are not only misinforming, they’re downright dangerous, unless you are already a leader, and already have authority. The authority to influence.

REALITY: There is no one key to leadership. You need a fat set of keys that includes BOTH authority and influence. And anyone who tells you differently is trying to exert their influence, without an ounce of authority.

Here are the elements, totally based on authority, that give real leaders the ability to influence:

Respect. If respect for the leader is lost, the power of influence AND authority are weak at the foundation of any mission. Leaders make the mistake of commanding respect when, in fact, respect is earned.
Clarity of message. If leaders are to be followed, it starts with clarity of message.
Positive attitude that sets an example for others to adopt. Attitude is THE fundamental element that creates a path for all leaders to succeed, not just influence.
Ability to motivate. Creating the desire of the team to perform at top level. Real leaders create that drive for the person first, the mission second, and the leader last.
Ability to inspire. The difference between motivation and inspiration is that motivation must constantly be injected. Inspiration lasts a lifetime. Great leaders can instill both.
Ability to strategize. Well-founded strategies are eagerly accepted by your team. They make sense and they seem doable.
Ability to plan, and plan B. After strategy is decided, plans (and alternate plans) are drawn to achieve the strategy. Plan B is also created to assure no loss of forward momentum in case there’s an unexpected shift or change.
Reputation. Not just a “great guy” or a “take charge” person, rather someone “known” as a great leader and has earned the respect of his people and his community (also could be her).
Resilience. One of the least understood, and possibly the element that carries the most “success weight” is resilience. A leaders ability to take it, and give it back, or bounce back from whatever situation arises. An influential leader with low or no resilience, will not be in that position very long.
Past experience. A history of both success and failure that has provided the knowledge and wisdom to lead in the present.
Persuasion. A higher form of influence. Persuasion occurs when trust and confidence meet belief, risk tolerance, and safety.
Stature. Leaders must stand tall and be recognized for their posture, confidence and poise.
Character. The elements that build the profile. Character is possessed (or lost) by consistently “doing the right and the best thing.” Character plays a major role in a leader’s ability to influence. Great character is molded over time.
Image. Actions, results, and reputation combine to form image.
Ethics. This element of leadership determines reputation. Great leaders operate at and with the highest ethical standards.
By example. As a business leader, business person, and entrepreneur myself for more than 40 years, I have ALWAYS set the example by “doing” rather than “telling” or “demanding.” Don’t tell me what to do, show me how it’s done.
Tolerance of risk. Great leaders have a high risk tolerance, and a sense to know when to take a calculated one.
Ability to get along with others. I believe that “likeability” plays a major role in a leader’s ability to create productivity and achievement.
Courage. The intestinal fortitude to withstand all adversity, and the resilience to react, respond, and recover on the way to accomplishment, achievement, and victory.
Ability to achieve. Great leaders are not just respected; they’re also measured. They have the responsibility to achieve, and their effectiveness is measured against their charged tasks and goals.
Ability to withstand failure. A major part of resilience, failure must serve as a lesson, and an opportunity to grow. Sure there is disappointment, sometimes anger – but leadership does not rest on a single event. All great leaders have encountered, withstood, endured, and recovered from defeat – much wiser, and much more steadfast of purpose.
Ability to celebrate victory. Everyone wants to celebrate a victory. Real leaders know how to create genuine celebration AND recognition of all those who participated. They also know how to temper it, and use it as a springboard for the next task at hand.
Reputation. Everything discussed above creates and forms a leader’s reputation. Reputation creates the ability to attract and the desire for others to follow. And reputation often arrives on the scene way before the leader does.

Including authority and the ability to influence, I have just given you 25 vital characteristics of leadership and the ability to lead. No single characteristic holds the magic. But together they are the keys to become a dominant leader when each of them is mastered.

If you want more leadership growth information go to www.gitomer.com and enter the words GROW MANAGER in the GitBit box.

Jeffrey Gitomer is the author of The Little Red Book of Selling and eight other business books on sales, customer loyalty, and personal development. President of Charlotte-based Buy Gitomer, he gives seminars, runs annual sales meetings, and conducts Internet training programs on sales, customer loyalty, and personal development at www.trainone.com. Jeffrey conducts more than 100 personalized, customized seminars and keynotes a year. To find out more, visit www.gitomer.com. Jeffrey can be reached at 704.333.1112 or by e-mail at salesman@gitomer.com

© 2011 All Rights Reserved – Don’t even think about reproducing this document without
written permission from Jeffrey H. Gitomer and Buy Gitomer, Inc • 704/333-1112

Credit Cards and Their Uses

Sunday, March 13th, 2011

By Sue Ricketts

Credit cards have become both the bane and the saviour of our financial existence in North America today. The saviour because it let’s us get to the end of the month when we spend more than we take in. The bane because it lets us satisfy our wants without making us consider if they are needs.

In my practice I find it is a rarity for anyone not to have at least one or two cards. Everyone claims that they pay them off completely at the end of the month. But you know, Statistics Canada says that there are multimillions of dollars owed by Canadians nationwide. I wonder who they are sometimes.

My advice to all my clients is to telephone their credit card company every six months and ask what their lowest interest card is and can you have that one. This accomplishes two things. It tells you without having to check on your own if your credit rating is good. It also ensures that you pay the least amount of interest possible on each and every transaction you complete. AS I always say there are only two ways to get rich in this world: one is to pay the least amount of interest possible and the other is to pay the least amount of income tax possible – legally of course.

Follow the link below to gain more insight into using and understanding credit cards. If you go to Financial Consumer Agency of Canada website at http://www.fcac.gc.ca/eng/default.asp you will find a number of calculators and some excellent guidelines for using the credit granting system wisely.

Credit Card Selector Tool

Which credit card is right for you?

Compare features and find the credit card that best suits your needs.

Credit Card Payment Calculator

How much does it cost if you only pay the minimum on your credit card balance?

Find out how long it would take you to pay off your credit card balance if you only made the minimum payments. This tool also shows you other options to pay off your credit card faster and pay less interest.

Publications of interest for more information available online

The Snow Empress

Sunday, March 13th, 2011

By Laura Jo Rowland

In the far north of Japan, there lives a people who call themselves Ainu, which means human in their language. They have lived there from approximately 13,000 BC to the present and have a very distinct lifestyle, culture and look than the rest of Japan. They are generally believed to be descendants of the Mongols and thus are much hairier and taller than the average Japanese. The Ainu were discriminated against for many centuries. Not until 1997 was a new law passed which provides funds for the research and promotion of Ainu culture.

This book sees the Shogun’s Honourable Investigator, now Chamberlain and second in command of the country, searching for his kidnapped eight-year-old son, Masahiro. Sano Ichiro and Lady Reiko are devastated by his loss and seek all over Edo to find clues to his disappearance. Lord Matsudaira, Sano’s political rival for influence over the Shogun, seems the most likely to have had the manpower and the desire to perform this terrible deed.

Lord Matsudaira has connived to have Sano sent to the far north reaches of Japan to find out why there has been no contact from the daimyo clan who rule in Ezogashima. The very name of Ezogashima means land of the barbarians which is a bad omen for his latest quest.

Ichiro and Reiko unearth clues which lead them to believe that Masahiro has been taken to this far-off corner of the world where snow and ice rule for long periods of the year. They arrive to find that the ruling Lord of Ezogashima has gone mad and is possessed by the spirit of his murdered mistress. In his madness he has closed the whole area so that no one can get in or out of the land until he finds the perpetrator of the crime. His madness seems destined to start a war between the Ainu and the Japanese which will likely mean the deaths of any foreigners caught up in the warfare.

Will Reiko and Sano find Masahiro in time to save his life? Has he been killed already? Can they solve the mystery and find the murderer before the war begins? Will they even survive in this forbidding land of bitter cold, ice and endless snow? Are the superstitions of people being inhabited by ghosts of the dead really possible? Or just a ruse to divert suspicion from the many suspects? Read on in this engrossing novel to find the answers.

Vyou

Sunday, March 6th, 2011

By Sue Ricketts

http://vyou.com/

This is just one of many great resources that you can use to connect with your past, current, and future friends/customers online. I like it so much in fact that I’m designating it as a primary place you can go to ask me questions that you want me to answer on the website SueRicketts.com. Please stay tuned for that happening soon.

I’ll be able to receive messages and then create a video response. I can share it, embed it and post it anywhere I want to on the web. I’ll be able to interact and converse with anyone and find people as well as be found by them.

Beware there are a number of marginally interesting things here but there are also some pretty awesome things which you can view and ask questions directly of the presenters. Think you can do better? Why not try it out for yourself?

What if Cats Had Thumbs?

Sunday, March 6th, 2011

I just had to post this. Enjoy!

Http:/www.milkmates.co.uk

A new Cravendale Milk advert which poses the question: “What if cats had thumbs?” Love it! http://bit.ly/eWvLAP

Ustream.tv

Sunday, March 6th, 2011

By Sue Ricketts

What’s the latest thing you can do through Social Media? How about your own internet television show? Now each and every one of us is able to use our own computer with a camera and microphone to speak to our family, friends and clients about whatever topic interests us.

I like the idea even better than email. I suspect that in the not too distant future everyone will be doing it without leaving home. We might choose to talk about books, history, aliens, world events or any of the other subjects which we all like to discuss. In Canada a favourite topic is always the weather. Just think! We could compare with and learn from our friends and acquaintances all over the world.

There would be far less fraud and misrepresentation to worry about if you could see the faces, the body language and hear the actual comments live. The downside would be that there is a learning curve on presentation and scripting a show of any length. A lot of it may be ignored because of poor presentation. As more people become practised at this type of thing it will become normal and a simple way to communicate.

Ustream let’s you easily broadcast live video feeds to the web. All you need is a webcam and microphone. In less than 10 minutes you can be set up and broadcasting live. Viewers can communicate with you via the chat console. You get your own Ustream channel on which to broadcast.

Below are the things which they provide:

Advertising on Ustream to promote your goods or services
Production services for your next event
Removing ads from your Ustream channel
Pay Per View opportunities
Custom packages for your specific wants and needs

These are the business applications, of course. But there are so many other things which average folks want to talk about. If you look around the internet you can find someone blogging about just about every conceivable topic since the world began. Now we’ll be able to listen to them in person and talk back to them. We can get personal answers and hear what others think about the subjects. To my mind this will open up a whole new method of communication which is not controlled by any government .

If you go to Ustream.tv you will find everything from Charlie’s Korner (yes more Charlie Sheen) to programs about Astrology and Space Navigation being broadcast. You and I may discuss simpler things but we can be out there too.

As always, there will be risks involved because there will be no laws to stop anyone from discussing anything they want to – the beauty and the devil. False information will likely arise and the snake oil dudes will find their way onto the scene. But I think that more people will be able to learn about the truth and be able to make judgements for themselves. We are far more educated in general than were people in the past. Until the printing press was created, people, whether they be church or state could control knowledge and exclude others from sharing in all knowledge. Now every common woman or man will be able to have knowledge and education at their fingertips and to share it with the world.

Wikileaks and the uprisings in the Middle and Far East are prime examples of how our world is changing because of the prevalence of and ease of obtaining knowledge. Because of social media every person has the ability, and the obligation, to learn many points of view on a subject so that wiser decisions for the public good can be made.